


Didn't Think This Through

by felsic (Dealer)



Category: Tattered Weave
Genre: Gen, Werewolf Lycus AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-09
Updated: 2017-08-09
Packaged: 2018-12-13 07:42:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,623
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11755200
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dealer/pseuds/felsic
Summary: Of all the times for a full moon...





	Didn't Think This Through

It took a  _lot_  of shooing to get everyone out of the lab.   
  
It felt like the entire student body was packed into his lab, bringing items to donate or checking in on his progress or even milling about the donations pile, smacking away greedy hands. Lycus had been put on edge by all this commotion to begin with—when he realized that the sun would be setting in a half hour at the  _most_  he struggled not to panic.   
  
Luckily, the other students are understanding sorts. They'd quickly determined—not incorrectly—that he was overwhelmed with the crowd and needed peace and quiet to finish his study. That got most everyone out of his lab, though of course there were a few who were worried and wanted to stay and keep an eye on him. But at last, after much convincing and a little pushing, he'd gotten everyone out.  
  
He leaned his back against the door and allowed himself to sag against it. That was too close.   
  
  
There was a series of knocks on the lab door.  
  
“Hey bro! It’s your favorite sister, here with snacks!”  
  
She let herself into the lab, having made her own key ages ago. She quickly locked the door behind her and started digging through her backpack, looking sheepish.   
  
“Sorry I’m late,” she said. She generally tried to get to there early during full moons, so she can help clear out the lab and be there with Lycus while he transforms. But judging by the furry—well, furrier than normal—figure scribbling frantically on the chalkboard, she hadn’t arrived quite in time.  
  
Lycus glanced over when she mentioned snacks. He was  _always_  hungry during full moons, but tonight he seemed reluctant to turn away from his notes.   
  
She pulled out a hunk of raw meat, thoroughly wrapped in plastic. She waved it enticingly at her lupine brother, who had not yet moved from the chalkboard. “C’mooon bro. You need to eat!”  
  
After a moment Lycus made a grumbling noise in his throat and lumbered over. He took the meat and sat down, glaring at the chalkboard as he munched.  
  
Piper plopped down next to him. “So how’s it going?”  
  
Another grumble and an irritated flick of the ear. Not well.  
  
“It looks like you’re making progress!” That was a fib. Even after months of sitting with Lycus during full moons she still couldn’t make much of his erratic scribblings. She just knew there were more than usual today.  
  
He growled and tore off another chunk of meat. He was stuck, Piper guessed. He’d hit a dead end but was too stubborn to stop.  
She fished through Seeba again and pulled out some sleeping pills. “You wanna call it a night?”  
  
Lycus shoved her hand away and shoved the rest of the meat in his mouth. He stood up, wiped is hands (paws?) on his ill-fitting clothes, and went back to work.   
  
Piper frowned as she cracked open her own snack, a small bag of chips. She hated seeing her brother like this. It was often. But she still didn’t like it. “You can take the rest of the night off, bro. There’s no deadline.”  
  
Lycus made a strangled noise in his throat. In an empty space on the chalkboard he scrawled in big, thick letters:  _IM SO CLOSE_  
  
“And you’ll still be close in the morning! You’ve said yourself you can’t think as clearly during wolf nights, so why don’t you kick back till its over?”  
  
He didn’t even wait till she was done speaking before erasing his message and writing over it.  _EVERYONE’S COUNTING ON ME_  
  
Piper got up and gently ruffled the fur on his neck. “Its not all on you,” she said gently. “We’re all working together on this. No one will mind if you take a night off.”  
  
He gave her a rueful glance. His new eyes still startled her; white on black, they were singularly inhuman, and made his every expression intense to an almost uncomfortable degree. However they looked almost fitting on his wolfish face—or at least less out of place.   
  
He opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted by an electrical buzz as the lights began to flicker. He snarled in annoyance, shamelessly using the interruption as an excuse to ignore the sense in his sister’s words. He busied himself with the donation pile, extending the distance between them as the lights continued to hum and flash. The stupid lights! They’ve been on the fritz since Lenta first—visited? Contacted?   
  
“Uh, bro—”  
  
Lycus huffed and flicked his tail. The conversation was over. He had stuff to do.   
  
“ _Bro—_ ”  
  
The lights continued to flicker. His thoughts continued to chase their own tails in his head. Distractions. Distractions! All he wanted was to focus. He was  _not_ about to be defeated by this. The last thing he needed was more distractions—  
  
“Excuse me, Lycus.”  
  
He froze.  
  
“I am sorry to interrupt, but this really should not wait any longer.”  
  
Lenta. Though they stood halfway across the lab, they still towered over him—they were even hunched over slightly as not to brush their head against the lab ceiling. They continued to speak, as did Piper, but their words did not reach him. The moment Lenta had spoken, several pieces fell into place. And the picture they painted was one of complete thoughtlessness.   
  
The spell. Lenta’s spell, the one that changed his eyes. It allowed Lenta to see everything he could see. He agreed to it simply so that it would save them both time in their research but, he didn’t even realize—  
  
Lenta could have seen his transformation. Even if they didn’t see that, all they had to do was take a look at all that night and they would have figured it out. He’d been stupid, he’d been so stupid, and now they knew, and they were going to tell everyone, or lock him up, or kill him, he needs to run he needs to run cant run nowhere to run he was cornered cornered cornered cornered—  
  
He snapped out of it, so suddenly it felt like a blow to the gut. A sense of deep relaxation washed over him; he swayed precariously, not at all minding the idea of simply curling up and going to sleep on the spot. Piper stepped forward and lightly patted him on the cheek.   
  
“Hey. Hope to Lycus.”   
  
He blinked and shook his head, clearing out most of the sudden sleepiness. “What was that?” he asked. Or rather, he tried to. The garbled, unintelligible noises that rumbled up from his throat reminded him of his muteness.  
  
“Ah—my apologies,” Lenta said, stepping closer. “I did not expect that to be so potent.”  
  
“How’d you stop him from freaking out?” Piper asked. “Was it a spell?”  
  
“Yes.” They looked uneasy. “One I learned quite hastily, I’m afraid. I would have come to your aid sooner, Lycus, but information on lycanthropy proved.. difficult to find.”  
  
Lycus perked up, neck straight and ears pointed forward attentively. Piper glanced at him for a moment before coming to the same conclusion. “Wait—you have info on werewolves?”  
  
“Not a lot,” they said hastily, “But.. some. It is an exceedingly rare condition, there has not been a case in centuries, but I have been able to find a few spells and remedies that may be able to help.”  
  
Lycus was fairly bouncing with excitement. After another failed attempt at speech he spun on his heels and scribbled furiously on the chalkboard. _MORE?_  
  
“Yes. There have been more,” Lenta confirmed. “But as I said, it is rare. We are not even sure what causes it, and the fact that now it has afflicted someone in Hope is concerning. Do you remember how you got it?”  
  
Lycus seemed to shrink into himself. He shook his head softly. It was unclear if this gesture meant “I don’t know” or “I don’t want to talk about it.” Lenta glanced at Piper, but judging by her expression she had never been able to get a straight answer from him either. The dryad decided this point could be pursued later.  
  
“Well,” they said briskly, “we have more pressing matters at hand. How is that spell working for you? Are you thinking more clearly?”  
  
Lycus nodded readily.   
  
“Excellent. While I must agree with your sister that what you need most is sleep, I gathered that you would not be swayed on that point.” They produced a small pouch, twigs and leaves poking out of the top. It wasn’t clear where it came from—it was possible Lenta had simply summoned it out of thin air, though it also looked suspiciously like they’d had it stored in their leaves. “The spell should keep your mind clear for the rest of the night, or at least for several hours, and these herbs ought to have a calming effect. I would recommend brewing them into a tea, although with your heightened senses the aroma alone may be enough.”   
  
Lenta strode over to Lycus, closing the gap with no more than four steps. “Now. Let us compare notes.”  
  
And so the night passed, with the dryad and the werewolf discussing their research while Piper looked on, occasionally translating for Lenta and often peppering them with questions about dryads and magic and the Enchanted Forest. This continued over the next couple nights, until the full moon waned and the nightly transformations ceased. Lenta made regular visits during the following full moons as well, keen to study lycanthropy first-hand and develop more advanced treatments—perhaps even a cure. But that was far into the future. In the meantime, Lycus was simply happy to have another person he could be open with.


End file.
